Self Sufficiency Measure (SSM)

Step Up Self-Sufficiency Measure In 2011, Step Up adapted an issue-specific measurement known as the Self- Sufficiency Measure (SSM), which was originally developed by the State of Arizona in a somewhat different form. Step Up’s adaptation addresses the five dimensions of poverty and prosperity: food, housing, health care, education, and income. These five dimensions correspond to the five focus areas originally addressed by the working groups (page 33). The Step Up Self-Sufficiency Measure serves as a scorecard for tracking the progress of participants in the 1000 Out of Poverty Project. The degree of access each individual has to each of the five categories (income, education, housing, food, and health care) is described on a scale of 1 to 5, which indicates the progression of poverty to prosperity in three phases: surviving, striving, and thriving. Individuals receiving scores of 1 to 2 (surviving) either lack or struggle to have access to those respective categories. Individuals receiving a 3 (striving) have attained an adequate degree of access to the respective categories, and scores of 4 and 5 (thriving) indicate that individuals are at the most successful stages of achieving self-sufficiency. Our goal is to use employment as a means of empowering adults to enter the thriving stage. (See appendix 2 for more detailed information about the Self-Sufficient Measure.) The four agencies collaborating in the 1000 Out of Poverty Program—Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, the Bill Wilson Center, Next Door Solutions for Domestic Violence, and the Stride Center—provide a quarterly report on how their clients are faring in the five categories. Some agencies have elected to include other measures both from the original tool from Arizona as well as developing measures relevant to their specific client populations.